Aerospace environments present challenging conditions to electronic components. For example, electrical and mechanical interconnections between integrated circuits and underlying substrates may fail after exposure to moisture, temperature cycling, and/or vibration. Metal corrosion, solder creep, material fatigue, and inter-metallic formations are also well-known causes of interconnection failures in electronic systems. Furthermore, in some systems, interconnection failures can result in undesirable phenomena in circuits, such as signal crosstalk.
In one such system, certain interconnection failures can cause signal crosstalk through circulating currents flowing onto signal lines through electrostatic discharge protection circuits. Accordingly, there is still a need for an electrostatic discharge protection circuit that reduces or eliminates the flow of circulating currents in the event of an interconnection failure.